Could a horse that's yet to win a race this year be the post-time betting favourite in the 2019 Pepsi North America Cup?

If the voters in the current SC web poll are accurate, that will be the case. As of press time for this article, the horse with the edge heading into Saturday's million-dollar showdown is De Los Cielos Deo, who dropped jaws with his sizzling 25-second final quarter to fall just short of elim winner Bettors Wish. (Click here to watch/hide the video replay.)

Trained by Ron Burke, De Los Cielos Deo (PP2, David Miller, 9-2) caught everyone’s attention a week prior to the Cup elims by firing to a 1:48.4, wire-to-wire victory during qualifying action at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Although he is winless after four pari-mutuel starts heading into the Cup final, De Los Cielos Deo has stamped himself as one of the most feared entrants in this year’s field. The bay colt has won five of his 14 career starts and $217,000 in purses for Burke Racing Stable LLC (Fredericktown, PA), Lawrence Karr (Randolph, NJ), Jandt Silva Purnel & Libb (Delray Beach, FL) and Weaver Bruscemi LLC (Canonsburg, PA).

Stablemate Captain Victorious (PP5, Yannick Gingras, 15-1) was handy and sharp in the lane and finished a strong second to Workin Ona Mystery in other NA Cup elim. The bay son of Captaintreacherous finished just one length back in second and was individually clocked in 1:49.1. (Click here to watch/hide the video replay.)

The colt won three of his 10 freshman starts and missed the board just twice, but he is winless thus far in 2019, a season in which he has made four pari-mutuel starts. Captain Victorious did win a qualifier at the Meadowlands Racetrack in 1:51.1 in late April and it appears as though he could be rounding into form just at the right time for The Captain V Stable (Fredericktown, PA).

Shannon Murphy, assistant trainer with the Burke Stable, spoke to TROT Magazine's Rachel Oenema at Tuesday's North America Cup draw and discussed the two runner-up elim finishers.

The 36th edition of the Pepsi North America Cup will go postward at 10:14 p.m. (EDT) and will be broadcast live on TSN5 from 10-10:30 p.m. The full field for the 2019 Pepsi North America Cup is as follows:

2019 Pepsi North America Cup
(Post – Horse – Driver – Morning Line Odds)
1 – Aflame Hanover – Andrew McCarthy – 20-1
2 – De Los Cielos Deo – David Miller – 9-2
3 – Bettors Wish – Dexter Dunn – 7-2
4 – Workin Ona Mystery – Tim Tetrick – 2-1
5 – Captain Victorious – Yannick Gingras – 15-1
6 – Tyga Hanover – Sylvain Filion – 12-1
7 – Best In Show – Bob McClure – 15-1
8 – Captain Crunch – Scott Zeron – 5-2
9 – Hurrikane Emperor – Dan Dube – 15-1
10 – Stag Party – Brian Sears – 12-1

The winner of the Pepsi North America Cup earns $500,000. This year marks the 19th anniversary of Pepsi’s sponsorship of the race.

The Pepsi North America Cup undercard features the $454,000 Fan Hanover, $330,000 Roses Are Red, $256,000 Armbro Flight, $247,000 Goodtimes and $100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup.

The Cup card wagering menu will feature a $100,000 guaranteed Pick-5, $100,000 All-Stakes Pick-4 and the usual $50,000 Early Pick-4.

Post time for the first of 15 races on the Pepsi North America Cup card is 6:30 p.m. To view entries for Saturday's card, click on one of the following links: